


Masks

by Cartara



Category: Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon 2012)
Genre: Gen, The Web-Warriors, Undercover, mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-29 00:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21145409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cartara/pseuds/Cartara
Summary: The Web-Warriors are sent under-cover to take down one of the people they still haven't managed to catch, even after all these years. But some things get more complicated than they need to be, and a close call is not too far from jeopardizing everything.





	Masks

**Author's Note:**

> Set post-season 4

"Everybody ready?" Amadeus checked via the comms. The 16-year-old genius sat on the roof, against the side of water tower that stood high above everything else. The main reason he was on the roof was the exceptional reception he got up there. His laptop and communicators worked like charms due to his altitude. On his visor, multiple camera-perspectives were displayed, and there were even more on his laptop.

Flash —who was sitting next to him, unfortunately— huffed. "I'm right here, idiot." The former jock was fulfilling the role of 'body-guard' to the 'tech-guy'. It wasn't necessarily the case that he wanted to do something that seemed more important... but he _totally wanted to do something more important. _Guarding someone that was four years younger than he was seemed insufficient, especially since the late teen could defend himself without any trouble.

"He wasn't talking to you, punk," Ben hissed via the communicator. The man was a few stories under them, getting ready for their plan. He ignored the squabbling between the two and took a deep breath as he looked in the mirror of the bathroom he was in. He could totally do this. All he had to do was keep an eye out while the others did the dangerous part. The only thing he wasn't agreeing with is that no matter what, he couldn't intervene. It bothered him.

"Ben, you okay over there?" Miles asked over the comms. He was getting kind of worried for his friend as he readjusted his suit. He could practically feel the tension radiating off the others as he gave a quick nod to Peter, who was asking him with a facial expression if he was alright. It wasn't exactly strange he was getting jittery about their mission. It was, after all, a big one. They'd been working on it for nearly a year.

"We're all good over here," MJ reported back to Amadeus, since none of the others seemed to have gotten the message. They were too excited about going in there and wreaking havoc like usual. She rolled her eyes as Miles asked Peter if he looked alright, but smiled fondly as he gave the teen a quick reassurance he looked fine. Over the comms, she could hear the other three grounding each other. Her boys were finally getting along.

"I guess we're going in, then," Peter announced as he softly pushed Miles in the right direction. They were in a small hallway near the back of the building, and Miles was supposed to go in via the personnel's entrance. They —Peter and MJ— would go to the front entrance and enter there. Ben was already inside, judging by the soft noises coming from his communicator. Miles and Flash were still on the roof and hopefully wouldn't even have to come down.

Peter checked his mask in the glass and put an arm out for MJ to hook her hand with his as they started walking. "I seriously don't get how you're so calm about this," Peter started. MJ was, despite the situation, taking confident strides towards the two grande doors that led from the lobby to the main room. She held her head high and smiled a little. "I get that you've been in this _kind of _situation before, but never _like this._ Explain."

"A magician never reveals their secrets, Peter," MJ replied without hesitation. "Or in this case; A reported never reveals her sources, ways of gathering intel _or_ methods. So you can give me puppy-eyes all you want. I'm stone-cold."

The two grande doors to the ballroom opened, and Peter and MJ gulped.

The room was _filled_ with people that were dancing, eating, talking, and laughing. They were spread evenly over the sides of the walls, the middle of the room, and some were standing on the balcony that covered half of the wall of the high circular room. Golden details shimmered at them, white and blue accentuating railings, certain spots and the chandelier that hung proudly in the middle of the roof.

Lots of people, glimmer and attention. But those weren't the most important parts. The Web Warriors didn't exactly have their minds on those things. The most important thing was that they were here with a goal. A mission. A person to capture.

And that person was Taskmaster.

"Do you see him?"

"Calm down Venom," Miles hissed over the comms. "They've been in here for literally two seconds. Heck, I've been in here for twenty and still haven't spotted anyone yet." He gave a quick glance past the person grabbing something of the platter he was carrying around, and gave them a nervous smile as they squinted at him. "Excuse me," he said as he brushed past them, desperate to get a better view. "I'll go up."

"I'm in the middle of the balcony, come meet me there," Ben reported.

"We'll walk around the lower level," MJ said before radio-silence ensued. "God, I hope we can do this without having to change into our suits."

"Like you can complain," Peter huffed as they started scouting the walls. "You can literally just, what do you call it... "summon" your suit. I gotta find a secluded spot and have to change clothes. You cannot say those things to me. You and Venom have a great advantage compared to the rest of us."

"Please," MJ said, rolling her eyes. "Like I have ever heard Ben or Miles complain about that. You, mister, are just being childish and impossible. Don't even try to deny it." She smirked at seeing him deflate. "Awww, did I hurt your ego?"

"I designed, made and improved on my own suit for months before _they_ even had the chance to alter something," Peter shot back. "They" were obviously Fury and his S.H.I.E.L.D.-minions, but saying that out loud on a party of bad guys? That simply spelled trouble. "You got it handed to you, though involuntarily. And if you think about it, I'd say I contributed making both yours and Venom's."

"Gross."

"But true. Blood, sweat, and tears," he commented absent-minded as he halted. He turned to MJ and nodded to behind him. "See those guys?"

MJ shot a quick and careful glance over his shoulder. There was a group of men, all dressed in white suits with black ties, huddled around a single high table. Their light get-up kind of singled them out from all the other guests, who were all in black. They didn't laugh or talk like all the others, but seemed deep in thought, commenting on things every now and then. "I can't see him, though."

"Is there someone you can't see the face of?"

"There's more than one that have their backs to this side."

"Guys," Peter muttered into the comms, "we may or may not have found a group that follows him. They're in white in the corner, just under the staircase on the left side. Iron, you got eyes on the prize?"

"I sure do, Man," Amadeus nearly whistled. "The new and improved Spider-Drone —courtesy of moi— is working like a charm —no surprise there. I see seven of them, but the drone can't get closer or it's spotted. You're going to have to make a distraction of some sort to get them to either turn or move."

"I could spill wine on them," Miles put in. "Classic movie-move."

"It's too obvious," Ben said. "You're supposed to be a butler, not a doofus. Act your role, not yourself."

"You're supposed to work for an organization that helps out low-level thugs. You're the CEO of a company that supports people, not suppress them. You're soft and caring. Act _your_ role, Scarlet."

MJ elbowed Peter, who didn't seem to be regretting anything as Ben softly cussed him out over comms.

"I could trip the fire alarm," Flash added. "Or make a real fire, if you think just the alarm isn't enough."

"We are _not_ tripping the fire alarm, and we are _sure as heck_ not going to start an _actual fire_," Amadeus commanded as he typed away on his keyboard. "First of all, that's a crime. Second, it'd be too suspicious. This party is well guarded. We should be glad we took out the rooftop-guards so easily."

"Then how are you going to see who's there?"

"Can't you just walk around them? The camera in your mask should have facial-recognition so we can identify them. I can literally follow your eyes here," Amadeus said, pointing at the screen.

"Fun fact," Miles said, "we don't know what he looks like. Facial recognition, fingerprints, DNA... we don't have that of him. Also, they're wearing masks that obscure half of their face. Facial recognition wouldn't even work on him even if he was completely exposed."

"Wait, cameras in our masks?" Peter suddenly registered.

"Uh, yeah?" Ben more asked than confirmed. "Standard procedure, remember. Fury had said something about a baby-monitor, but I never figured you didn't even know. It was in the briefing last week as well."

Peter shared a look with MJ, who was getting unsettled by his cheap smirk. He took a small step backwards, made a small bow and put one palm forward. "May I have this dance?"

MJ started blushing ferociously as she put her hand in his. "You may," she managed to whisper as he guided her to the center of the room. "It's been a while since I had ballroom classes, you know. We were twelve." As she put her hands in the right places —God that sounded weird— she gave him a stern look. "Remember, this is just so we can see them."

"Miss Watson, how dare you accuse me of thinking about such things," he said with faux hurt as he took the first step. Slowly, but surely, the music's speed started increasing and MJ had to really concentrate so the wouldn't pierce through his shoes with her heels. "I can watch them as long as you promise you don't step on my toes."

"Sounds good to me."

On the balcony, Ben looked down on the dance floor. His teammates and —dare he say it— his _friends_ were darting across the gold-colored floor. He reached backwards, snatched Miles by his collar without looking and nodded at them. "Explain."

"What's there to explain, _Sir_," Miles asked with a small grin, staying in his role.

Ben blinked, irritated, but still went along with it. The people behind and next to them couldn't suspect they knew each other. "Well, _young man,_ I was wondering how someone can dance that well," he said, pointing at the fact they seemed to be naturals at it.

Miles ignored the silent sneer back and looked at them as well. "It would appear they have been doing this for years together. They seem totally accustomed to each other and their movements. I'd say they're very good friends, if not more." Ben merely nodded. "Will that be all, _Sir_?"

"For now."

Miles didn't know how, but he somehow managed to walk down the stairs, not trip, serve people _and_ watch his teammates do their jobs. He could see how Peter snuck glances at the group —that Miles now had vision on— while MJ seemed completely into the dancing and not messing up. As he moved towards the right staircase to grab a new silver platter, he couldn't help but notice how the group suddenly tensed. "Guys, something's happing."

"I didn't do it," Ben immediately responded. "And neither did the dancing lovebirds. They're too focused. I think they turned off comms." His face hardened and he put one hand through his hair. "Flash and Amadeus..."

"I didn't do it!" Amadeus shrieked as he scrambled upwards. His laptop had stared smoking and was now on fire after it had exploded. He frantically tried putting out the fire. "It was all going along great until there was this warning popping up on the screen! Some digital virus attacked my laptop and now it's completely fried! _Literally_!"

"The, uh, Drone was connected to the laptop," Flash added as he covered the laptop with his symbiote, cutting off oxygen. "It kind of went down. We could see it on Iron's hologram..."

"Where did it land?"

A beat of silence.

"The table of the men in white?"

Ben cursed and darted into one of the hallways connected to the balcony. Miles got the silent suggestion and also sprinted out of the room, much to the confusion of the chef that he was taking the plate from. "Peter, MJ, get out of there. The plan's changed."

Peter didn't hear what was said over the comms. He merely saw the guys tense, not having seen the drone come down. The men stared at the object that had appeared out of nowhere, and one of them picked it up. It was smaller than his palm and seemed to be having multiple parts.

"The Spiders are here," Taskmaster commented to his men as he blinked at the small drone. "The virus worked. Now, find them."

"Yes, sir."

"MJ, time to go," Peter said as he took her by her elbow and started marching away from the table the guys were now leaving.

"What?"

"They know we're here," was all he said as they made it to the edge of the ballroom. Frantically looking around, he didn't spot either Miles or Ben, which meant they got out and were changing suits. Amadeus and Flash were already in theirs so they were good to fight as well. MJ could change in a heartbeat, but she'd have to be out of sight. He was the only one that was in deep shit now.

"Go that way," he instructed as he pointed at a smaller hallway that connected to the ballroom. "It'll be less suspicious if we go separate ways."

"Be careful," she said before hurrying over to the smaller hallway.

Just as she made it through the door opening, lasers appeared where she had been a mere second ago. Peter stared at the red beams that were now an inch from his face and cursed Parker Luck again before turning around. On top of the balcony, on the railing, stood a figure with a remote. He held the white device in his hand and showed it to the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he spoke, and Peter shuddered. That was Taskmaster alright. Even though he couldn't possibly have known they would be here, he still took the necessary precautions to make sure he could do anything to stop anyone from leaving. "You may be wondering who I am, and what the hell I think I'm doing. Answer: helping you out."

Mumbles rose from the audience as they slowly backed away from the figure in white. The people on the balcony were ushered away from the higher floor and mixed with the lower floor.

"It would appear Spider-Man is among us."

Now **that **got a reaction. Angry and surprised exclamations made their way into Peter's ear, and he was reminded of his comm. He turned it on and was greeted with frantic shouts of his teammates. He flinched at their volume, but luckily, Amadeus saw on his hologram that Peter had activated his comm against and could hear them. Which also meant they could hear him.

"If everyone would be so kind to split into two groups. Women near the wall, and men in the center. People who feel like neither, both or anything else may join the women. Thank you."

"How considerate of him," one of the people near Peter muttered.

"Well, he _is_ addressing everyone," the person next to them said.

"See you outside, I guess," the first person said before carefully moving over to the wall.

Peter watched carefully how one of the men —who was now wearing a full-face mask— deactivated the lasers and let the people of the group through. The red beams reappeared as soon as he released the button. It was the same remote Taskmaster had just shown to the audience.

"Next selection," Taskmaster announced as he was suddenly also standing on the lower level. "People above 35 may go to the doors. The rest stays here."

_Now_ Peter started panicking for real.

"They want to draw you out," Amadeus reported over the comms, also panicking. "Not good. We gotta invade _now_."

"What did I just tell you," Ben hissed. "If we attack they know we're here too. We have to come up with a better strategy than just barging in. Which, by the way, is impossible. Those lasers don't seem like fake ones and I really want to live to see another day."

"What about we take out the guard as they let out people?" Miles said. "We can jump through when they're down."

"We could risk harming civilians," MJ frowned. "As soon as they see us they let go of the button and fry everything in the path of the doorways. How's it looking down there, Tiger?"

"If he talks he's caught," Flash reminded them. "He has to stay quiet. Don't worry Webs, we'll think of something."

"Think faster."

Meanwhile, the people of 35 and above were escorted out and hastily joined their dates in the lobby. For a minute, Peter wondered what the next categories would be, but quickly dismissed the thought. This was no game of Who Is It. This was a life-or-death situation, and he was wondering what was going to be asked. It didn't matter, he didn't have to move anyway. He could stay right in place until they plucked him right out of the group. Yep, Taskie was going to analyze their way of moving and would recognize him within a second. He was practially dead already.

"Next category, gentleman, is physique. This may be kind of a hard question, but if you are not exactly in shape, please join the other near the door."

Damn the tailor for making the suit so tight.

"Windows!" MJ suddenly exclaimed over the comms. "There's no lasers on the windows! We can get in without harming anyone!"

Peter tanked whoever was up there and started surveying the windows. Even though it was dark outside, he could already see the five windows being covered with moving shadows. Five windows for his five teammates. Typical.

"There's only twelve people besides him in there, plus the six goons and Taskmaster himself. So thirteen civilians, six enemies and one boss. Think we need a plan?" Amadeus summarized as he stared at the scene.

"Twelve civilians. One of them's Peter and he ain't no civilian."

"He has to act like one so we count him as one," MJ interrupted Amadeus before he could even start his explanation to Miles. "We have to move," she said as she saw the civilians being lined up. Taskmaster stood in front of the group and started inspecting them. "Like, _now_."

"Well, let's go!" Venom shouted as he propelled himself through the glass. The colored fractures were sent flying into the room, making eighteen people jump. Peter and Taskmaster weren't surprised as Agent Venom barged in through the window.

Letting out a battle cry, he landed on top of two of the goons, rendering them immobile as he webbed them up as well for good measure. He turned towards the other four and gave them a wicked smile that even came across through his symbiote. "Who's next?"

"Seriously Venom? 'Who's next?' Get a better sales pitch," Iron Spider remarked out loud as he flew in through the already broken window and started firing at the four men, who scattered across the room.

The other Spiders shared a glance and shrugged before also climbing in through the already broken window. No more property damage than needed was always a win. Spider-Woman positioned herself on the ceiling so she could oversee. "Three things. One, hostages. Two, remote. Three, Spider-Man."

"Is that an order we need to follow or just a checklist?" Kid Arachnid yelled over the comms as he avoided the bullets (?) he was getting shot at with. "Because you missed a few things!"

"Like what?"

"Me."

Taskmaster shot at the woman on the ceiling with a gun, out of which a net appeared. It went towards her with such speed she was unable to completely move out of the way. Her right hand was pinned on the ceiling by the weird red collection of wires and she rolled her eyes. "A net?" As her free hand morphed into a knife, she managed to not tell him off about how inconsiderate he was, since she could literally cut herself free no matter what.

She had more control over the more refined symbiote than Flash did over his, and she was sure to help him out at times she could. The former jock was more of a heads-on kind of fighter, while MJ tended to assess the situation before rushing in, and even then she was sure to keep her distance. She was better at stealth, and yet Taskmaster had found her.

The sharp end of the knife touched the net, and as a bright light was suddenly emitted from the net, a shock made its way through her body.

"Spider-Woman!" Kid Arachnid yelled as he saw her limp figure hanging from the ceiling. "Hold on!" As he jumped on the wall, one of the shots from the goons hit him in his leg. Hissing in pain, he managed to catch himself by sticking on to the wall, where he was met with more lasers. He shot off the wall before a small explosion happened in the place where he just was. "Guys, he booby-trapped the whole place!"

"No shit!" Venom yelled as he too shot off the wall.

"But what about the ceiling?" Iron Spider spoke to them though comms. "She had no problem getting up there!" He shot a blast at one of the goons that dared to come a little too close. He stood with his back towards the group of civilians —and Peter— that was moving up the stairs. He had come to the mighty conclusion that if they got in through the windows, they could get out through the windows.

Scarlet landed next to him. "It took a while, but I took down another one. Kid Arachnid and Agent Venom are working on the other two. Kid got hit though, so Venom better take good care of him."

"Is that affection I hear?"

"What do they even want from us?" one of the civilians suddenly piped up before Scarlet could lace Iron Spider onto his barbs. "I mean, are they after Spider-Man or something? Where even is he?"

"I thought _they_ thought he was one of us," someone else said. "I mean, there's the Web Warriors, and they're missing Spidey. The sent away women and people that were too old. They think it's one of us."

"Oh my, you're right."

"Talk about that later!" Iron Spider interrupted them as he somersaulted away from one of the shots. "You need to get out of here!"

"How!?"

Scarlet jumped up into the window and kicked the excess glass out. "I'll hoist you up and lower you. Whatever you do, do _not_ touch the wall! Single file!"

After a bit of squabbling, a single file was formed. Peter stood —unsurprisingly— in the back and carefully leaned back. "You're doing great guys. I'll get back as soon as I can."

"No worries Webs," Iron Spider muttered back before blasting the goon straight in the gut. Unfortunately, there was another one that took his place immediately. "Uh, Venom? Did you lose a guy? Because I just found another one."

"No, there's still two over here!"

"Kid Arachnid, are you sure there were seven? Six goons and Taskmaster?"

"Pretty sure!" he yelled back as he webbed one of the goons up. "Venom's KO's are also still out, so we must've missed one."

Iron Spider swiftly took care of the new guy and frowned. "Did he change clothes or something?"

Venom suddenly yelled, "I got one!"

"Try if you can make it to the ceiling," Amadeus said as he charged at the last guy and shouldered him. He hit the floor, face first, and stayed down. Amadeus webbed him up, just to be sure. "So there's two where Venom landed, one where Scarlet took one out, two over here and two in the center?"

"I guess," Miles said as he jumped on the railing of the balcony, making Amadeus jump a little. "I'll go see if I can get Spider-Woman off of the ceiling." He jumped up again to join Venom, who was already ferociously tugging at the red wires.

"Be careful with that leg!" Amadeus turned around and saw that only four more civilians remained. "Who's up next?"

"Me!" said the man that was near the wall. He was all too happy to cling on to the hero and fly right out of there. Better to be saved by a hero than to die by the hands of a villainous colleague. Iron Spider set the man on the ground outside carefully and wanted to fly back up, but he fell to the ground as Scarlet suddenly dropped on top of him. "What are you doing?"

"I got pushed out, idiot!" Scarlet yelled as he stood up. He offered a hand to Iron Spider, who took it all too grateful. "Oh no..." The two of them swiftly scaled the wall, and got to a halt in front of the opening. There were red lasers.

"Eh, guys?" Miles suddenly spoked over the comms. "Don't look, but look." He waved at the duo outside. "We're kind of stuck in a mini-dome of lasers and if we move we die?"

Scarlet slowly turned his eyes to where the civilians stood. Two of them.

And Peter.

"Shit."

Peter had already realized the situation and had went through every single plan he could think off. Stall him. Make a deal. Get the civilians to safety. Get the team out of their predicament. Call backup.

And every single option meant revealing himself.

He shared a nervous glance with the other two as they huddled closer together when Taskmaster suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Gentlemen," he said, no appreciation or respect whatsoever in his voice. "You may or may not have guessed my intentions here, so I'm not going to bother you with explaining it."

"Ah, but we wanted to hear it!"

Peter's eyes shot up towards Miles, who was leisurely hanging down from a string, within his little shared cell. "Come on, old man, you managed to do this, at least brag about it. You deserve it. I mean, you took out the _Web Warriors_, man! Tell us how you knew it'd work out like this."

Miles was stalling.

"Fury has been called," Iron Spider whispered over the comms.

Amadeus was going for the backup.

"Working on an escape plan here," Spider-Woman said softly. Apparently, they had found a way to both wake her up and get her out of her situation.

MJ was getting them out of here.

"Like I would talk about the how and why," Taskmaster huffed as he stepped closer to the civilians. "I only want to talk to the hero..."

"Let the civilians go and we'll talk!" Scarlet yelled from outside. "You don't want to get charged with everything and kidnaping, right?"

Ben was trying to get the civilians out.

"Let's talk about this, man," Flash sighed. "Look, I really don't want to be here, and you don't want us here. Let's go already."

Flash went for the deal.

Every. Single. Point he had thought of had been addressed. They had tried separately to come over as a bigger threat to his plan. They didn't go good-cop/bad-cop, but also not as a single one. MJ was feigning being KO, but Peter could see the gears in her head turning. They were all working on letting this go the best way possible.

And he was being useless.

"Listen here, _Heroes_," he said, disgust in his voice. "I'm afraid I won't be able to tell you about my plan because of multiple reasons. The main one being that you'd stop me, and we don't want that to happen, now do we?" He stepped closer to the three men in formal suits and towered above them. "Now, which one of you are the petty thieves and which one of you three is the person I'm looking for?"

"Don't do it!" Scarlet yelled from above them. "He'll either hurt you or leave you for dead in some way, no matter if you admit it, lie or try to get out!" The warning applied to both the criminals and Peter, and it struck both teams. The three didn't move a muscle and merely looked back at the villain through their masks.

"Scarlet Spider," Taskmaster addressed him. "Hard on the outside, soft on the inside. You are a difficult one, I can tell. Why don't you give me a hand? We are colleagues, after all."

"I'm not your weapon anymore, Taskmaster," he gritted out, barbs getting dangerously closer to slicing something. And being that that were either lasers or a teammate, he had to control himself.

"You think he's being difficult now? You should see him when we're having movie night or something. He's very peculiar, but an actual sweetheart."

"Kid Arachnid I swear when you're within reach and not behind two rows of death-rays I will _hunt you down_."

"Noted."

"I believe we're getting off topic, gentlemen," Taskmaster interrupted with a small hint of annoyance in his voice. "I'm also getting tied of talking to three copies of the exact same reason in the same suit. How about we take off those masks?"

"Don't! Visual photographic memory! Show your face once and he'll remember it for the rest of his life!"

Peter really wished he could quip along because **damn** he had some good ones waiting for this particular situation.

"Until amnesia hits him in the face."

Peter's head swiveled around to the man next to him, who was looking straight at Taskmaster. Was this guy crazy!? Quipping was the last thing he was supposed to do in this particular situation! He was insinuating _he_ was Spider-Man! If he did it in costume, nothing could harm him except the regular. Right now, it was the biggest mistake one could make. And most important of all...

He was going to say that.

Taskmaster turned towards the man who had spoken. "You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

"I'd say dementia would take him before that, unless someone lands a really good hit on him before he gets actually old."

Peter swallowed as Taskmaster's gaze turned towards him. He could see the confusion radiating off of him. Two hostages talking back? That had to be a new thing. First of all because he had hostages, and demons because there were two.

"They'd have to hurry, tough," the other man piped up. "Dementia comes when you're old. I'd say he'd have a week."

Okay, **now** Taskmaster was lost. "What..?"

"A week?" the first man huffed. "A day."

"Old is not the word I'd use," Peter added, getting into it. Quips were part of his arsenal and he was not planning on saving any ammo. "Senile, maybe."

"Or just plain ol' crazy."

Peter couldn't help but grin at the other two. They were scared out of their wits and knew they were in deep shit, but they helped out a complete stranger and someone from the opposite team to them to save the other. They could've been seriously harmed by now, but they stood their ground. Even though he could hear Amadeus saying they had a plan, he kept going.

"More synonyms? Anyone?"

"Insane."

"Mad."

"Nuts."

"Silly."

"Wacky."

"Kooky."

Peter was frowned at. "What? It was on that website for synonyms! You can look i—"

The lights went out.

"Eh..."

"Webs! Don't tell me you didn't listen to a word I said!" Amadeus freaked out over the comms. "Tell me you heard the plan while you were dragging him through the mud!"

"No can do, 'cause I must not tell lies, professor," Peter said as he jumped away from Taskmaster, dragging the other two along with him. The night-vision mode Amadeus had put in the mask was working like a charm.

"Tell me you didn't just compare me to that toad," Amadeus sighed. "I'll get you for that later. Now; the plan _was_ very well thought out, but I'm assuming you're going to be winging it."

"Just get the lasers to turn off," Peter sighed.

"Can't," Scarlet piped up. "We need that remote to turn off the lasers, and we can't because we're stuck. Behind said lasers."

"And that's also in here. Great. So I have to multitask? Civilians, remote, Taskie _and_ you three up there?"

"That's what happens when you wing things, Webs."

"Venom and I can help out," Spider-Woman noted. "Our tendrils are very thin if we want them to be. We can slap him away from you." Peter felt a sudden movement in the air on his right and a 'thump' on the floor mere seconds later. "Like that."

"How about we search for the remote?" the man that was clinging on his left side suggested. "One of those men has to have it on him."

"We can get out if we have it, right?"

"Be careful," Peter said as he put the two down and swung away, yelling, "Taskie! How did you like my synonyms?"

"Fool!" he yelled back as he took out his orange baton and charged at the swinging hero. However, he missed him by an inch as Spider-Man suddenly propelled himself upwards. After he landed safely, he grumbled and looked up to the ceiling, where he could barely see him sit. "Trying to get your friends out? It won't work."

Peter mumbled to himself about how he was always underestimated as he nodded to MJ. "Watch me." Pulling his _real _mask over his head as he let the one for the ball fall, he shot off of the ceiling and went straight for Taskmaster, who rolled out of the way. He got into a crouch as he cocked his head at the assassin. "How'd you know we would be here?"

Taskmaster didn't answer as he ran towards the hero again. This time, Spider-Man had to jump out the way to avoid getting struck. He didn't have time to quip or take a deep breath as Taskmaster went in for hit after hit. Peter managed to block some, dodge, but he couldn't avoid getting hit a few times.

Spider-Man managed to get distance between them, making them face off like they were in an old western movie.

"You have improved," Taskmaster noted as they started circling around each other, Taskmaster still avoiding getting hit by the tendrils that were coming from the ceiling. "Less predictable, more moves, more skill and precision... too bad it's going to waste. Leading a team of incapable Spiders is not helping anyone."

"Says the one being delayed by person they called incompetent three seconds ago."

"Fool," he said back as he took a baton and pointed it at Spider-Man. "Leader of a bunch of useless brats doesn't suit you. I'm making an offer that you will regret turning down."

"And work with you?" He got back into his crouched position, ready to charge. "No thanks."

Taskmaster charged first, baton put forward. As he was sidestepped, he made a full 180 and went for the head. Only just missing, the baton was grabbed and taken out of his hands. Suspecting the move, his hand clenched into a fist and went for a punch to the head.

Spider-Man could just barely flip out of the way. "You got faster," he said as he jumped up to the edge of the balcony.

"You got more annoying. Didn't know you had it in you."

"It's my specialty, doing what you think is impossible." He shot a strand of webbing at Taskmaster's feet, who took the white stings in hand and started pulling. Surprised by the counterattack, Spider-Man was pulled off the railing and back onto the main floor. As he shook his head to get rid of the sudden movement, Taskmaster took a knife and cut through the webbing. "Aah, come on. I just made that."

Taking the knife in hand, Taskmaster started circling again.

"What am I, a prey? I thought Kraven had dibbed that aesthetic already," he quipped as he cartwheeled to the side to avoid the knives thrown at him. "Be original, man. I was the first Spider."

"And not the last!"

"Shut up Venom!"

"At least I'm helping!" Flash yelled back, giving Miles the stink eye.

"Don't look at me like that!" he quietly hissed back. "Not my fault I didn't get taken over my an alien!"

"Save it for later, I think they found the remote," Amadeus chimed into the conversation. "Venom, keep him busy. We'll bust you right out."

Meanwhile, Spider-Man and Taskmaster had gone back to hand-to-hand. And feet. And elbows. And knives and webbing. It was a fast paced chaotic fight, and neither opponent seemed to be clearly winning or losing. Taskmaster couldn't believe how well his opponent was faring, while Spider-Man was getting worried for a surprise attack from the assassin.

Deciding he had had enough of close combat, he shot a web upwards and pulled himself to the ceiling.

Taskmaster had foreseen this, and a boomerang suddenly cut through the strand.

He yelped at the sensation of falling where he should be going up and reacted quickly by pulling himself towards the wall.

Which was a mistake.

If he would have paid attention more to the conversations and planning between the rest of his team going back and forth over the comms instead of panicking about how he was going to get everyone out of the situation they found themselves in, he would've known about the traps that were about to blow him right back off the wall. The red lasers sensed something obstructing their counterparts and acted on it.

Taskmaster smirked under his mask as the hero was blown off by the explosion and thrown harshly on the ground. Spider-Man groaned as he pushed his upper body up with his arms, but he was forced back down by Taskmaster's boot. The man leaned down a tad, one arm resting on his knee. "You talk too much."

"Says the guy who's lecturing."

"Quiet, you moron," he hissed as he pressed harder, earning a squeak of strain. "You ask how, and you do not think for yourself." He reached into one of his pockets and took out a pair of handcuffs. "That's the problem with you heroes. You don't think ahead."

"Oh we do think ahead."

Taskmaster's head swiveled to turn, but he was blinded by the lights going back up. Spider-Man rolled out of his position and kicked Taskmaster in the knee, making him stumble to the ground. He looked up to the Web Warriors, who were all positioned around him. The two other men in normal suits stood side by side, trying to look just as intimidating. "You should try to not underestimate the rest of the team," spider-Man chided as he caught the remote S0ider-Woman threw at him. He waved it back and forth in front of his face and towered over him in a downgrading way. "They're not useless."

***Line-break brought to you by; Daily Bugle Communications***

"Fury! My main man!" Spider-Man said as they stepped out of the Spider Jet onto the platform. Fury stood near the landing spot reserved for the vehicle, hands folded together behind his back, expression unreadable. "Brought you a little something," he said, gesturing at the apprehended assassin behind him that was carried off to a cell.

"Parker."

Peter flinched at the use of his last name and pulled off his mask, looking up at Fury with one eye. The other Web Warriors stood behind their leader, ready to back him up if he needed it. "Look; it didn't go as planned, I messed up some times —don't go all "mad-mode" on them..._but _we caught him! He's all ready to be locked up, released of his identity, yadda, yadda...yadda?"

The reason Peter had trailed off was what he was seeing. "Em...Nick? Your face is broken. Get Coulson or Connors to fix it. It looks weird and pretty...good?"

Fury rolled his eyes, though his mouth was still up in a small smile. He stepped closer to Peter, who gulped. Placing his hand on his shoulder, he said, "Good work out there today, Spider-Man."

Peter was at a loss for words as Fury went back to normal and walked off to somewhere. He turned around to the rest of the team, pointing behind him with his thumb over his shoulder. "Did that just happen?"

"Beats me," Flash said as he walked past him, waving at the other teams, who were excited to hear how the mission had went. It was not every day they got to do undercover work, so the special occasion required some extra attention as well.

"I never knew the Fury of my dimension," Miles said, "but that _did_ seem out of character."

"He's just being a bit of a softie since it's about Peter," Ben huffed as he stalked past the others. "I'd get used to it if I were you."

Miles shrugged and went to join the others as well. Flash was already in the middle of the story, making wild gestures as he talked about ow they had done it. Amadeus didn't even bat an eye at Peter as he too went to stand with the others.

"They're being un-be-_lievable_," MJ sighed as she rolled her eyes. "Those boys —minus Ben— have zero clue at what's going on, and they're _all _in the negative for communication. Listen, Peter... This is Fury we're talking about, and even I don't know what he's thinking half of the time. Either don't figure it out and let it rest or straight up ask him if you want to know. You're not hearing it from me."

"Wait—" Peter swiveled around as MJ twirled past him— "you know why? Or... What? MJ!"

"Go figure it out, Tiger."

His heart made a little jump at the nickname and as she shot him a smirk before being pulled to the side by Flash, who was getting her to talk about what she had done. She laughed as Flash called her all kinds of adjectives, a small blush hovering on her face.

Peter looked between his friends and the glass, where Fury was looking down on him. The man shot him an appreciating nod and Peter smiled a little. He let out a content sigh and ran over the others, getting dragged into the story as well. He would ask Fury later.

Right now, he wanted to be with his friends.


End file.
